A San Diego-based developer wants to build a three-lane car wash at the intersection of White Horse and Evesham Roads in Voorhees. The plan calls for demolishing a former gas station and a home on the site, steps from the Cherry Hill border.

TNG Voorhees LLC needs the Voorhees Zoning Board of Adjustment to grant a use variance because one of the two lots is zoned rural residential, where a car wash is not allowed, the Philadelphia Inquirer first reported. The board's webpage lists the application for its Thursday, Nov. 12 meeting.

The intersection sits at a crossroads Cherry Hill residents know well. The Shoppes at Holly Ravine, Holly Ravine Farm and a ShopRite supermarket surround the site. Saddlehill Winery occupies the southeast corner, and Springdale Road feeds in from the Cherry Hill side.

TNG Voorhees and three other parties bought the former Shell station at 1607 Evesham Rd. from Voorhees Shell in 2017 for $1,658,112, according to Camden County property records. Ferriol C. Apistar and Crisanta B. Apistar own the residential property at 1502 White Horse Rd., which would be demolished under the plan.

The two lots total about 1.6 acres. The 11,182-square-foot car wash building would sit entirely on the residential lot, with the former gas station lot used for parking. Entrance and exit driveways would open onto both Evesham Road and White Horse Road.

In its application, TNG stated that the gas station and service shop had been there for decades and that the "site is ripe for redevelopment." The company said the project would promote the general welfare by facilitating productive reuse of an underutilized property.

The developer faces a high bar. A use variance requires an enhanced burden of proof on community impact, according to a review letter from the board's planner and engineer, Artheon. TNG Voorhees must show that "allowing a car wash on this site would not have a substantial negative impact of the character of the community or quality of life on nearby residents and businesses," Artheon wrote.

TNG stated that 16 on-site queuing spaces and additional stacking between kiosks and the wash tunnel are meant to prevent cars from backing up onto public roads.

No public comments from neighboring businesses, nearby residents or the Apistar family appear in available records. The Voorhees Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hear the application Nov. 12.